CALICO: the PROJECT Hand-embroidered fabric
Fabric and villages that embrace embroidery
Around 2012, I visited Shantiniketan in West Bengal in search of a modern sashiko embroidery called Nokshikata. The sweet weaving of the tussar silk and the vague outline of the embroidery were all abstract and ephemeral, which was refreshing. I heard that all the processes of embroidering silk fabrics are done within the village.
I was fortunate to be able to see many scenes of handicrafts in the same village in one day, including cheerful women using their thighs to spin thread on a simple spinning machine, sturdy men stretching the warp threads and winding them into spools, older men weaving and younger men coloring, and in Muslim households, both the first and second wives all joining in and teaching each other how to embroider.
There was more to it than just what Gandhi said, "Khadi is the sun in the solar system of the village. The life of other planets cannot exist." But when I ordered it and had it made, I got a uniform design on a sturdy cloth woven in another state. In contrast to the finished outer fabric, the back had frayed threads that had not been fastened at the ends, and I had to use a knot to fasten it every day.
The designs, which were originally straight and simple, became "flowing" without being asked, and many such items began to appear in the city, so the Nokshikata project ended for the time being, with a focus on the simple keta of Bangladesh. Making something to order means that the initial passion and creativity is lost, and we are still exploring how to make embroidered fabric without design, keeping in mind that we will end up making something completely different.
West Indian hand embroidered fabric
In western India, bordering Pakistan, you can see embroidery designs that are highly common to Pakistan and the areas west of it. The importance of cloth to the lives of landless people in the wilderness, their attachment to it, and its role are often beyond the imagination of those of us who live amid the tranquil blessings of nature. Cloth serves as a rug or shelter and plays the role of a home, and is also a way to connect with ancestors. By piercing the needle, we trace the memories passed down by our ancestors and leave them as traces in the form of cloth. Even from far away, we can recognize our community through the embroidery designs.
CALICO initially headed to Kutch to work in dyeing, but after seeing an exhibition by Living Lightly, an initiative born out of a conservation initiative for pastoralists, they discovered that the area still retains wonderful embroidery techniques, and through Qasab and Khamir, they began a project with the Devaliyarabari, a group that produces unique applique embroidery. At first, they had planned to create white applique embroidery, but they were told that this concept does not exist in the applique embroidery of the Rabari, and that in the desert, color itself is unexpectedly important. So, they wondered what color means to them, and decided to use remnants of Ajurak, a traditional dyeing method that was originally found in the area.
Devali Yarabari applique embroidered bag. Collaboration: Qasab, Khamir, Sufiyan Ismail Khatri, Ibrahim Budda Raman Khatri. 2023
Photo by Haruhi Okuyama
We have repeatedly asked the question of "Will only rabari be popular and non-modern embroidery be eliminated?" together with Qasab, a production group we trust. Of course, the premise is that the embroiderers are interested and want to do it. Here are some samples of Jatt's embroidery, which we have been making little by little since 2018.
Jat embroidery is the strongest of Western India, and it is said that "even if the fabric decays, the embroidery remains." Cooperation: Qasab, 2025
East Indian hand embroidered fabric
Bengali Kantha is a free-spirited fabric made by layering old saris and stitching them together with fine needles, with traditional designs and colored threads taken from the borders of saris. It is a fabric made for families, so it comes in many different forms. It is a fabric that is human, both sophisticated and unsophisticated. I feel an energy that makes me want to stop judging it by my own arbitrary standards.
There are similar fabric traditions in Bihar and Bangladesh, formerly known as Greater Bengal. The fabric generally known as Sujuni is monotone and simpler than Kantha. Due to the influence of Mithila painting, distinctive figures and village scenes began to be embroidered. There are also artists who create modern works, such as my friend Arhana Kumari. When I went to Archana's village, I found that there were women who embroidered Sujuni "before the influence of Mithila painting." Rather, the younger generation is not influenced by anything and creates by moving their own sensibilities. I think that this may be the original form of Kantha and Sujuni these days.
Embroidery by a young woman in Archana village. 2024
In Bangladesh, they plan and make embroidered cloth called keta with an organization called Living Blue and its affiliates, mainly using cloth dyed with natural dyes such as indigo. After the COVID-19 pandemic, the women's feelings may have changed and the quality of the work has fluctuated more than ever (the work from that period is being offered at a discount), but things have finally settled down and they want to get back to work.
Iron-dyed Kantha quilt by MiAA, 2024
Photo by Haruhi Okuyama